Dejan/Gloria to BAC semifinals, Praveen/Melati and Rinov/Pitha stopped

– Mixed doubles, Dejan Ferdinansyah/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja, successfully won semifinal tickets to the Badminton Asia Championships or Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) after beating India’s doubles, Thursday (28/4/2023).

Playing at the Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall, Al Nasr Club, Dubai, Dejan/Gloria advanced to the last four after eliminating Rohan Kapoor/Reddy Sikki, 21-18, 19-21, and 21-15. Dejan/Gloria are entitled to appear in the semifinals after fighting for 1 hour and 5 minutes.

However, Dejan/Gloria’s move failed to be followed by other mixed doubles, Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari and Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti, as well as women’s doubles Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi.

Rivov/Pitha lost eighth seed from Malaysia, Goh Soon Huat/Lai Shevon Jemie, 17-21, 21-15, and 19-21. The 14th ranked double fell after 55 minutes of fighting.

Meanwhile, the other mixed doubles, Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti, failed to advance to the semifinals. They stopped after being defeated by the first seeds Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong, 11-21, 17-21. Praveen/Melati gave up after 30 minutes of fighting.

Women’s doubles Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi also failed to advance to the semifinals because they were defeated by Thai doubles, Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai, 21-16, 18-21, and 11-21.

Dejan admitted that he panicked before being calmed down by his trainer and partner Pitha. “Today, thank God, we were able to win the match. But in terms of performance, I feel unsatisfied because my game didn’t come out at all,” said Dejan.

“We played beyond expectations and prepared strategies. I felt tense, unable to control myself. Luckily, my coach and partner were able to calm me down, making me focus again on myself,” said the player who was born in Garut.

“We weren’t carried away by yesterday’s game, it’s already past. But indeed in this round I was tense after playing well in the first round and playing busy yesterday. This is a lesson for me to prepare for non-technical things tomorrow as well,” the aged player The 23 year old added.

Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja admitted that she was happy to be able to calm Dejan when his partner was panicking. “Thank God, today I can focus on myself, stay calm and not falter when Dejan can’t bring out his best performance. I also tried to keep him calm,” said Gloria.

In the semifinals, Dejan/Gloria will meet Chinese representatives who are also the first seeds, Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong. Zheng/Huang advanced to the last four after defeating Indonesian representatives Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti.